Schuyler Otis Bland was built in 1951 by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp., Pascagoula, Miss.

Schuyler Otis Bland was a prototype of what was to have been a class of ships, but Maritime Administration designers conceived the even more modern Mariner type following her construction.

On 26 July 1951, Schuyler Otis Bland was assigned to American President Lines under bareboat charter. She completed two round-the-world voyages for APL before being transferred to the Waterman Steam Ship Corp. under a General Agency Agreement. On 25 July 1952, the C-3 cargo ship went into the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Mobile, Ala.

Schuyler Otis Bland's next service was with the American Mail Line, which had acquired her to replace Washington Mail, which had foundered in a violent North Pacific storm. In October 1959, after more than two years with American Mail, she entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Olympia, Wash.

On 4 August 1961, Schuyler Otis Bland was delivered to the Navy, and, on 28 August, assigned to the Military Sea Transport Service. Schuyler Otis Bland departed San Francisco on 28 September to carry cargo to Bangkok, Saigon, Manila, Kaohsiung, and other Pacific ports, beginning over a decade of service supplying military logistic requirements throughout the world.

On 1 August 1970, the Military Sea Transportation Service became the Military Sealift Command in which Schuyler Otis Bland continues her service.